


love amongst turtleducks

by whattheelizabeth



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Not Beta Read, it's about zuko zooting off to ember island, maiko is only in the background, where he writes a play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26324830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whattheelizabeth/pseuds/whattheelizabeth
Summary: Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He had been working nonstop for five years to get the Fire Nation back to a reputable nation after the war, and today he’d just snapped. Mai was right, he needed a break.“Please, just, clear my schedule.”|| Zuko and Mai take a vacation to Ember Island, where he writes his own version ofLove Amongst Dragons
Relationships: Mai/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 69





	love amongst turtleducks

**Author's Note:**

> I read [this post](https://firelordemai.tumblr.com/post/628481980413214720/love-amongst-the-turtleducks), went a bit feral, started this fic in the middle of the night, fell asleep halfway through, and finished it the next day. So, it's a bit rough, but it wasn't even supposed to be a fic to begin with, just a tumblr post. But then, you know, 500 words turned into over 2k, and here we are.

“Pack my things.”

“But Firelord Zuko, sir, you have meetings, and-”

“Just pack my things!” Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I would like to take a vacation for a few months. Please pack my things and reschedule all meetings six months out.”

The advisor looked nervously at the list of meetings and events Zuko had scheduled for the next six months. Needless to say, there were a lot.

“Sir, I’m sorry to ask, but are you sure this is the best idea? What will the ambassadors say when I tell them they need to move around their schedule to come at a different time? How will your council make decisions without you there to sign off on them?”

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He had been working nonstop for five years to get the Fire Nation back to a reputable nation after the war, and today he’d just snapped. Mai was right, he needed a break.

“Please, just, clear my schedule.”

The advisor shuffled the papers again, glancing from Zuko’s face, down, and up again. “Ok,” he said after a minute. “Ok, I will.”

Zuko let out a sigh. “Thank you so much.” He bowed deeply to the advisor and walked briskly the rest of the way to his suite, leaving the advisor standing in the middle of the hallway, shocked.

When Zuko entered his suite, he found Mai waiting for him, lounging by the fire.

“Good, you’re finally done with your meetings. I’ve been waiting for hours.”

She hadn’t. She and Zuko both knew that it was an expression.

Zuko leaned down to give her a kiss on the head. “Pack your things. We’re going to Ember Island.”

Mai sat up to watch him as he started pulling out trunks and throwing his clothes in them. “Did you even think to ask me if I _wanted_ to go to Ember Island, or do you just expect me to drop everything and follow you there?”

Zuko glanced back at her briefly to see her resting her head on her arms on the back of the couch, smiling faintly at him. He smiled back. “If I remember correctly, it was _you_ who has been bugging _me_ for months about taking a vacation.”

Mai gave Zuko another smile before getting up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Well, I better go get packed then.”

Zuko watched her leave before turning back to his tornado of clothes and trying to shove a particularly billowy set of robes into a trunk that was more the size of a jewelry box. After a minute, he realized the physical impossibility of this endeavor, and sat back on his knees, taking a second to center himself.

He needed to get away, but that wouldn’t be any good if he just flew away in a fit of passion. He should write to Uncle, explain the situation and ask him to be interim Firelord for the next few months. Yes, Uncle hated politics, but if he explained, Zuko was sure he would help him out. Then, he wouldn’t just be leaving his council high and dry, and they could actually continue fairly on schedule. He’d leave a message for his advisor before he leaves, and the letter for Uncle to be mailed.

A couple hours, and _a lot_ of packing later, Mai and Zuko were on their way to Ember Island. A couple hours after that, they were at Ember Island itself.

“Wow, we haven’t been here in years,” Mai said after their luggage was unloaded and the party of guards they traveled with left. Zuko had said time and time again that it wasn’t necessary, but it was something his advisor always insisted upon.

“Yeah, I think that last time was still during the War.”

“Seems like forever ago. How different we were back then.” Mai smiled at Zuko. “But maybe we’re not so different.”

Zuko raised his brow at her as a smile played at his lips. “Oh?”

“You’re every bit as dramatic as you were back then, you’re just better at hiding it.”

Zuko wrapped his arms around her waist. “So are you.”

She gave his lips a light peck. “Hmm, I don’t remember being the one to suggest we drop everything at a moment’s notice and dash off to Ember Island. And I was never dramatic.”

“Then what would you call being gloomy and sighing about the world every other day?”

“I would call it being realistic,” she said, but she was smiling. The world wasn’t dark and gloomy for her anymore; it hadn’t been for a while, for either of them.

“So, what do you plan to do while we’re here?” she asked.

She laughed at the look of confusion on Zuko’s face. “I hadn’t thought that far,” he admitted.

For the next few days, they lounged around, basking in the laziness that is vacation. On the fourth day, though, Zuko was getting restless. He felt unproductive, like he was wasting his time.

“Zuko, you’re shaking the bench again.” Mai said as Zuko started bouncing his leg up and down. “I love you, but it’s messing up my playing, so if you could stop or sit somewhere else, that’d be great.”

Zuko stood up from the piano bench and walked around the room, examining objects, books, and furniture (that how bored out of his mind he was), until he picked up a flyer for the Ember Island Players from the pile of mail they’d collected from the overstuffed mailbox upon their arrival. Apparently, the Players were performing _Love Amongst Dragons_.

“Want to go see a show tonight?” he asked, holding up the flyer.

He would usually never suggest paying to see their sorry excuse for a play, but it was _Love Amongst Dragons_ , and Zuko was going out of his mind with nothing to do.

Mai looked up from the piano. “Sure, but if your rant about how awful their performance was is longer than thirty minutes, you have to buy me ice cream.”

“Deal.”

As Mai predicted, Zuko’s rant was well over thirty minutes; he was still going strong an hour and fifteen minutes later.

“I mean, why would you make the dragon prince actually be the avatar?? In what world is that a good choice? If anything, you should make him a freaking turtleduck!“

“You should write your own version.”

“What?” Zuko was taken so off guard, he paused his rant.

“You know a lot about theatre, you love _Love Amongst Dragons_ , you should write your own version.” She took another bite of the cone from her long-since-melted ice cream. “Make it about turtleducks like you said, or something.”

Zuko paced as he considered this. “It could be an interesting interpretation...It could completely redefine what type of love the show is about.” He turned back to Mai. “I think I’m going to do it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m going to write _Love Amongst Turtleducks_.”

The next day, Zuko was hunched over a desk, pouring over the script for _Love Amongst Dragons_ , scribbling furiously on a piece of paper beside it. Mai felt a twinge of uncertainty about her suggestion.

They’d come here to relax, if Zuko was getting stressed again-

“Mai!” Zuko looked up, he was beaming. “Look at this.” He shoved a piece of paper in her face.

Mai scanned the paper, she could barely read Zuko’s handwriting; it looked like komodo chicken scratches. “What is it?” she asked after she gave up trying to decipher his handwriting.

“It’s the plot concept for my play.” Zuko took the paper from her hands and started to read it. “We start with a family of turtleducks. They’re happy until one of the turtleducklings gets lost. He loses his family and has to travel the world trying to find them. He makes friends with all sorts of animals, one’s he’d never expect to make, and by the end of his journey, his finds his family again, except now that family is a lot bigger than when he started.”

“The friends he made on his journey are part of the family now?”

“Yeah,” Zuko nodded emphatically. “It takes the themes of romantic love and love beyond the bounds of appearance from the original work, and transforms it into platonic love and familial love that transcends the bounds of the nuclear family.”

“Wow. That’s really good.”

A blush crept up Zuko’s neck, its red blending into the red of his scar. “It’s nothing, just a fun project for me to work on.”

Mai didn’t push, she knew that if she kept insisting it’s the streak of brilliance it is, he’d just become stressed by the pressure to live up to that expectation. She gave him a kiss before leaving him in peace, smiling at the scratching of the pen that echoed down the hall.

For weeks, Zuko worked on his play. The fervor with which he started eased to a steady pace. He worked on it for a few hours in the morning while Mai read, and at night while she played the piano. The days they spent together, enjoying each other’s company, doing all the cliche things young and old married couples alike do when they visit Ember Island. Couples massages, walks along the beach, swims in the ocean, dinners at fancy restaurants, the whole nine yards. It was nice.

About a month after they arrived at Ember Island, Zuko rushed in from the porch where he was working on his play to where Mai was sitting at the piano.

“I’ve finished it!” Zuko exclaimed.

“Congratulations!” Mai sprang from the piano bench to wrap him in a hug.

“Can I read it to you?”

Mai rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

Two hours later, there were tears at the corners of Mai’s eyes. “That was one of the most beautiful plays I’ve ever heard.”

Red crept up Zuko’s neck. “Really?”

“Yes. You have to produce it.”

“How would I even do that?” This play was supposed to be stress relief for Zuko, not a tangible play to be _performed_.

“I don’t know,” Mai admitted. “But you have a few more months of vacation. I’m sure you could figure it out.”

The next day, Zuko disappeared. He was supposed to go to the beach with Mai, but he snuck off to talk to the owner of the theatre about potentially producing his play. Mai would understand; they’ve been to the beach almost everyday since they got here.

When the door to the theatre opened, the owner looked at him in shock.

“Fire- Firelord Zuko.” She bowed, nose almost touching her knees. “It is an honor. What can I do for you?”

Zuko shoved his play into the woman’s hands. “Do you think I could produce this play here?”

The woman looked from the play to him, uneasy. “Firelord, umm sir, we are an institution of art, and we can’t have just anyone produce plays here...even if they are the Firelord.”

“You let the Ember Island Players perform here, and they’re not exactly the pinnacle of theatre.”

“Sir, the Ember Island Players are an official acting troupe-”

“Will you at least read it?” Zuko pleaded. He hadn’t been able to sleep last night because he was thinking about how he would produce his play. He was inspired, and he didn’t want to lose this inspiration. This piece of work that wasn’t a treaty or a trade deal or a law poured over by countless officials, this piece of work that was entirely his own, and he wanted to work on it for however long he could. If the owner didn’t think it was good enough, then Zuko would let it rest, but he had to at least try to make his idea a reality.

“Ok...I’ll read it.” She looked down at the title. “ _Love Amongst Turtleducks_ , ha, nice.” She smiled at Zuko. “This might be good.”

Two days later, Zuko got a message from the owner.

_Dear Firelord Zuko,  
I love your play. If you want to produce it as soon as possible, the theatre is free until the next Ember Island Players production. I can help you find actors, costumes, crew, whatever you need. Let’s make this play a reality._

“What’s that?” Mai asked from behind Zuko.

He turned, grinning from ear to ear. “The Ember Island Theatre is going to produce my play.”

Mai beamed and threw her arms around Zuko. “And you didn’t believe me when I told you your play was really good.”

He laughed and gave her a kiss. “We’ll see what the critics say about that.”

For the next few months, Zuko was occupied planning and rehearsing his play. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been this happy and carefree.

Mai helped when she could, she was fairly well-versed in theatre, and Zuko valued her opinion. Every now and then, he would burst into wherever she was sitting, with a new concept or idea that popped into his head.

“Mai!” He would shout. “I’ve figured it out! You know how I can’t find any actors suitable for the role? I’m going to use turtleducks!”

Mai could admit, _that_ idea she had a hard time wrapping her head around.

“Turtleducks? You realize there’s dialogue, and turtleducks can’t speak?”

Zuko fidgeted with his hands, unable to contain his excitement. “Yeah, I know, but there’s going to be turtleduck handlers that say the dialogue as the turtleducks act.”

Mai gave him a skeptical look. “You also realize turtle ducks can’t act?”

“They’re smart! I used to train them to do tricks; I’m sure they can do this too.”

Mai never thought it would work, but sure enough, Zuko achieved his vision. She had to hand it to him, he was nothing if not determined.

Finally, opening night came around. Zuko was more nervous than when he was crowned Firelord. Of course, he hadn’t had any idea what that would entail, and that it would almost lead him to a nervous breakdown after five years of essentially nonstop work, which would prompt him to take a vacation to Ember Island where he would see _Love Amongst Dragons_ , which would inspire him to write _Love Amongst Turtleducks_ , which would eventually open at the Ember Island Theatre, and oh Agni was it hot in here? Or was it just him?

“Zuko, it’ll be fine.” Mai rubbed his arms. “It’s a good play.”

Zuko tried to calm himself, but his nerves were killing him. He always used to get really bad stage fright before his father forbade him from performing, but now that it was his own work being performed, he was even more nervous. It was a good kind of nerves though, not the frayed kind he’d felt before he yelled at his advisor and ordered his things to be packed. It was adrenaline, exhilarating.

The lights in the house went down. Zuko took a deep breath. He peeked out at the audience and saw his uncle sitting in the fifth row. He met Zuko’s eye and smiled, waving his hand. Zuko rolled his eyes fondly as the people around Iroh craned their necks to see what he was waving at. Seeing his uncle had made him more calm somehow, he no longer felt like he was about to hurl his breakfast all over the floor.

“Places!” He called to the turtleduck handlers, and they led the turtleducks to the stage.

 _Here we go_ , Zuko thought, and the curtain rose.

After the play ended, Zuko was met with a crush of hugs and exclamations of how amazing his play was. Finally, Iroh wrapped Zuko in a bear hug. His eyes were rimmed with red, and he still had tears at the corners of his eyes.

“Zuko, that was the most beautiful play I have ever seen, and I’m not just saying that because you are my nephew.”

Zuko’s eyes felt damp as he gripped Iroh tightly. “Really?”

“Yes,” he replied. “You did _Love Amongst Dragons_ justice.”

No other opinion would have mattered to Zuko, but if it did, he would have found critics raving about the groundbreaking piece of theatre. Adaptations were already being planned, tours were being scheduled, and people were calling it the best piece of theatre in modern memory.

Years later, Zuko would not only be remembered as one of the greatest Firelords in Fire Nation history, but also as one of the most influential playwrights since the end of the 100 year war. And while Zuko was proud of his accomplishments as Firelord, it was his mark on the theatre world that he cherished the most.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading this tornado of a fic! Check out [my tumblr](https://whattheelizabeth.tumblr.com/) if you want more midnight fanatic ravings.


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